HOUSTON - The FBI and Texas Rangers are leading a new task force created in the wake of public corruption cases in South Texas that brought down a sheriff, a judge, a district attorney and other elected officials.

HOUSTON (AP) — Individuals looking to purchase health insurance during the ongoing second round of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act have until Feb. 15 to sign up. But Monday is the deadline for people to sign up if they want insurance coverage to begin Jan. 1.

HOUSTON — School officials say dozens of human brains reported missing from a University of Texas research lab in Austin were actually destroyed about 12 years ago because they were in poor condition.
The university released a statement Wednesday saying environmental workers disposed of between 40 and 60 jars, some of which contained multiple brains, after faculty members said the specimens weren't suitable for research or teaching purposes.

HOUSTON - Five children were killed after their South Texas mobile home caught on fire and its roof partially collapsed, making rescue attempts impossible, officials said Tuesday.
Emergency personnel arrived shortly after 5 a.m.

HOUSTON — Community groups, health advocates and insurers remain encouraged by their success in Texas — which has the highest uninsured rate in the nation — in signing up residents for health insurance during the first round of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act.
But ahead of the second round of open enrollment, which starts Saturday and runs through Feb. 15, these organizations say more work remains in reaching out to some of the state’s largest pockets of uninsured, particularly Hispanics, and educating them about buying and using health insurance.

HOUSTON — Community groups, health advocates and insurers remain encouraged by their success so far in signing up Texas residents for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
But ahead of the second round of open enrollment, which starts Saturday, these organizations say more work remains in reaching out to some of the state's largest pockets of uninsured, particularly Hispanics.

CONROE, Texas — Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson avoided jail time on Tuesday in a plea agreement reached with prosecutors to resolve his child abuse case.
Peterson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of reckless assault under the deal that Montgomery County state District Judge Kelly Case approved during a court hearing. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing.

HOUSTON - Communication problems between first responders at a 2013 Houston hotel fire and an incomplete assessment of the structure hampered the response to the blaze that killed four firefighters, a state report released Friday found.

HOUSTON - The owner of a Houston bus company who was charged after a 2008 crash that killed 17 passengers on their way to a religious retreat has avoided prison after a federal judge sentenced him to three years of probation in a plea agreement.